Lovino Style: Mission For Change
by yellow blaze
Summary: HumanAU: Lovino could easily be described as blunt, irritable, and impatient, but hey, hardly his fault the idiots around him aren't doing anything about their damn attitudes. And why does everything happen like clockwork around here? Same thing, different day. Nothing ever changes. ...well the detention was new.
1. Patterns

To anyone who may be reading this and may find it familiar/similar to another story on this site:

This is a re-write of a set of stories that I had put up a few years ago. But in the past few years, my writing style has changed, and those stories were so full of grammar/continuity issues, so I am opting to rewrite them out. Once I have them started, I will be more than likely removing the old ones.

* * *

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Standing by the auditorium doors, Lovino stared at the front doors, scowling at anyone who would go by and give him a strange look. "What the hell is their problem?" He crossed his arms and returned his attention to the door, waiting for the other person to arrive. _Seriously what is taking him so damn long?_ Ugh. Well that answered that question. Lovino rolled his eyes as his brother came through the door, talking with another person. _Figures._ _Of course they would walk to school together._ Lovino pulled the wallet out of his back pocket and held it out to Feliciano as the two approached, "Hey! Try not to forget this at home next time!"

"Oh! Yay, you brought my wallet with you!" Feliciano clapped his hands together and took the wallet, smiling happily, "Thanks~"

"How the hell did you leave before me and get here after me? If you're going to take so damn long, you could at least make sure you have your crap before you leave the house!" Lovino ignored the person Feliciano was walking with and stalked off towards his first class. _Stupid airhead._ _Why do I have to be the responsible one?_

It felt a _little_ nice to be the person that his parents relied on, but even still! Lovino glowered at the space in front of him as he continued shoving his way through the crowded hallway. _He could at least make an_ _ **effort**_ _to remember!_ Lovino returned the glare that somebody else gave him when he bumped into them, "What? If you got a problem with being run into, then don't stand and hold a conversation in the middle of the damn hallway!"

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He gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to calm down somewhat while the teacher continued going over the powerpoint slides. _No point in being so worked up all the time._ Lovino opened his eyes and looked back at the display. _Focus. Just focus on your schoolwork._ Yeah right. Like he ever bothered focusing on the stupid lesson. Lovino rolled his eyes. _Same pointless crap. Another pointless day._ He drummed his fingers on top of his desk, staring out the window instead.

Maybe he could use this time to think of something else. _Like what?_ Lovino frowned and looked down at his notebook. Somehow he doubted the teacher would appreciate a list of every place Lovino would rather be than here. He snickered to himself at the thought of what the expression would look like. _Maybe I should try it just to find out._ He glanced around at his classmates, but it seemed to be a mix of actual paying attention, and sleeping (or close to falling asleep). _I wonder why he turns the lights out during a presentation like this… isn't that just asking for someone to fall asleep?_ Lovino spotted the teacher beginning to walk around the classroom, continuing with the lecture while heading towards some of the sleeping students. _Oh they're going to get it._ Lovino winced as the teacher slammed his hand down on the desk of an unsuspecting classmate.

"Must I constantly remind students that there is no sleeping in my class?"

Lovino opened one eye and snuck a glance over to that corner of the room. _Geez. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today._

"The classroom is a place of learning, if you are not willing to learn then why do you even bother showing up to the class?!"

"Because we're required to, dumbass." Lovino snapped. He hadn't realized he'd said it aloud until a few of the students around him started snickering. _Shit._ Lovino quickly glanced out the window as the teacher stalked over to his side of the classroom. _Now I went and did it._

"Who said that?"

Lovino winced at the tone on his voice. _Okay, maybe I should use my notebook to remind myself not to voice my thoughts out loud. At least not in this class._ He tapped his pencil idly on top of his notebook, rather surprised (and amused) that no one was telling on him.

"Somebody over has a rather _interesting_ sense of humor."

 _More like somebody over here has a mouth he can't control._ Lovino bit down on his lip before the comment could escape and watched as the teacher went back up to the front of the room.

"The world is place of learning!" The teacher snapped, shutting off his computer.

 _Here we go._ Lovino slumped down in his chair, dropping his pencil on top of his notebook in defeat. Now they were all stuck listening to a long lecture. _Ugh. Save me from this._ He cast a glance up towards the ceiling. _Somebody._

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* * *

Lovino dragged his feet down the hallway, feeling rather drained from the insanely long lecture that had taken up the rest of the class. _Man that was insane. Definitely have to keep my comments to myself in that room._ He looked over his shoulder, scanning the hall for the familiar face of his brother, but the other male was nowhere in sight. _Funny. Normally I run into him at least once through this hallway._ Lovino scowled and shook his head. At least this meant he didn't have to deal with the annoying questions of how his first class had gone.

 _Same question. Different day. Nothing ever changes._ He looked to the left side of the hallway where a couple was arguing. _Same couple arguing between first and second bell._ _How are they even together still?_ His eyes went to the right side of the hallway and spotted another male yelling at some people to quit staring at him. _Same guy showing up late all the time._ Lovino rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the panic of the students closest to the yeller. _Oh deal with it. If he was in a fighting mood, he would have knocked you all flat already._

He kept walking, turning around the corner to head for his next class. _Same crap, different day. Why is it always the same? Everything is always the same._ Lovino frowned. Maybe he should start writing down the usual schedule of things in his notebook. _I can mark it down if something changes for once. Like when that couple will finally break up. Or when that other guy will actually show up on time._ Lovino smirked to himself and looked down at the notebook in his hand.

"Lovino!"

He raised his head to look towards the speaker, half-expecting Feliciano, but found it was the friend who had accompanied his brother into the school this morning instead, "Oh. What do you want, Antonio?"

"Ahhhh… I was just going to ask if you'd seen Feli yet. You normally pass him through this hallway right?" Antonio tilted his head, giving a huge smile to Lovino.

"I haven't seen him. But that stupid teacher made us a few minutes late getting out, so he probably went through already." Lovino shrugged and kept walking.

"I hope not. I told him I'd give him back his notebook in the hallway after our first class." Antonio made a face, "Man, what if he forgot? He needed this back before his second class!"

"Then I guess you're going to have to find him, aren't you? Good luck with that." Lovino kept walking, refusing to even _offer_ to deliver the notebook. _No way am I making myself late. If he needed that stupid notebook so bad, he should have remembered to come and get it!_

"Ah, but I don't even know where his second class is!"

 _He's as much of an airhead as Feliciano!_ Lovino looked upwards towards the ceiling again, pleading for patience before glaring at Antonio, "Look, if he really needed that notebook so badly, then he would have remembered to come and get it. Just keep it until lunch when you see him. He can take his damn notes in another notebook for one day!"

Antonio paused and looked down at the notebook in his hands, "Oh I guess he could. I don't remember him mentioning a test or anything…"

"There you go then." Lovino turned away and stalked the rest of the way to his next class. _Geez. It's not like it was that hard to figure out. He could have thought that much on his own!_ And really, even _that_ was on schedule. The only thing that changed was the subject of the conversation.

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* * *

Lovino looked at what he had written down in his notebook so far.

 **Before first bell: give Feliciano whatever he forgot at the house.**

 **After first bell: couple arguing on the left side of the hall, noisy guy being late on the right side of the hallway.**

 **Antonio pestering me about something to do with Feliciano.**

He nodded to himself. _Maybe I should make a note in it to not piss off that stupid teacher again._ He thought back to the lecture and rolled his eyes. No note needed for that. Lovino doubted he would forget the lecture anytime soon. Ignoring the clamor of his classmates around him, Lovino mentally tried to think back to the previous day's events. _What else happens every day?_

"I'm totally a hero! I save people all the time!"

 _Right. Can't forget_ _ **that**_ _guy._ Lovino made a face and scrawled another line into the notebook entry. _Same stupid idiot proclaiming he's a hero at least once during study hall._ Why was the blonde kid so obsessed with heroes anyway? Maybe he should ask sometime. Lovino cast a disinterested stare towards the classmate and made a face. Then again, maybe _not_. _He's way too loud. No way am I talking to him._

"Man, I doubt you've ever saved a person in your life."

Lovino raised an eyebrow. _This part of the conversation is new._ Probably because their study hall monitor wasn't in the room yet. They could say what they wanted without getting in trouble. Lovino held his pencil above his notebook page, getting ready to write down whatever came next so he could keep track of how often it would occur.

"I am too!"

Nobody else seemed to be paying the conversation much attention, they were all too busy talking to one another, so Lovino and the blonde were the only ones struck speechless (and Lovino actually dropped his pencil in shock) at the other kid's outburst.

"What kind of hero can't save his own brother?"

Lovino grabbed the nearest textbook and flung it at the speaker in annoyance, "What kind of moron even says something like that?!"

Complete silence fell over the classroom as the study hall monitor came into the room. It must have been a strange sight to her. One teenager on the ground, holding his head, with a textbook that was laying nearby… another teenager, whose face somewhat resembled that of a ghost, standing next to him… and Lovino standing up, arm and hand still outstretched from throwing the textbook. And of _course_ , everyone was staring at Lovino as if he were some strange alien.

 _I feel like an idiot._ Lovino remained frozen in one spot. _I have got to learn to control my temper._

"I have no idea what happened here, but all three of you can go to the office!" The study hall monitor exclaimed, "Good grief, I can't even run five minutes late without a fight breaking out?!"

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* * *

Lovino kicked his legs back and forth underneath his chair, calmly waiting for the principal to get off the phone and address the 'problem' that had brought all three of them down.

The blonde to his left still hadn't said a word since the other's outburst, while the third classmate (who got hit with the textbook) hadn't _stopped_ speaking since they'd gotten into the office. Granted most of the speaking was actually cursewords, it was still annoying as hell.

"Would you shut up." Lovino finally said, still staring at the wall across from them.

"You threw a book at me!"

"You should consider yourself lucky that it wasn't a _chair_." Lovino snapped, "What you said was rude! Who the hell goes and says that to somebody?"

"How about I give you a chair then, huh?"

Lovino glared at the student who had stood up, actually reaching to grab the chair. _Oh bring it._ He opened his mouth to give a retort but found the student in between them suddenly stood up and knocked the other one flat on his back. _… Okay then._ _I guess there was no need for me to get involved in that one._

"Dude, shut up!"

"I'll fucking hit both of you with a chair!"

Lovino yelped and ducked as the chair came swinging in his direction, "Yo! We're in the office already, are you trying to get us all suspended?"

"Man! Take a chill pill, seriously!"

 _Oh sure. That'll get him to calm down._ Lovino rolled his eyes but was rather impressed that the tall blonde was able to kick the chair away. _At least he can fight. Or defend himself anyway._ Lovino froze when he heard the door behind him open, and glanced over his shoulder to see the principal gaping at all three of them, "Uh…"

"Yo, man!"

A loud crashing sound turned Lovino's attention back to the other two, and he stared dumbfounded at seeing the tall blonde standing right in front of him, while the other teenager was several feet away. _… I'm going to get suspended for this, aren't I?_

"What is going on out here?!" The principal yelled, "Alfred Jones!"

"What?" The blonde spun around, "Man, he started it! He was threatening to hit us with a chair!"

 _Guess I can write in 'got in a fight in second bell' in my notebook._ Lovino made a face. It would probably be a reoccurring theme after today.

"I don't care who started it!" The principal snapped, "There is no excuse for fighting on school property!"

Lovino stared at the principal in disbelief, "What, are we supposed to continue this off of school grounds? Somehow I doubt the guy's going to go for a 'hey let's take this outside so we don't get in trouble'!"

Alfred snickered at Lovino's impersonation of the principal, earning them both a cold glare, "Oh come on, Principal Smith! It was totally self-defense!"

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* * *

 _So much for the claim of self-defense._ Lovino carried his tray through the cafeteria. The only thing that claim had gotten them was a long lecture and a detention. _I guess we should consider ourselves lucky we're not suspended, but even still._ Lovino scowled as he looked towards his usual table. He could see Feliciano and Antonio talking to one another, both of them looking extremely cheerful ( _too_ cheerful). Lovino stalked off towards the back of the cafeteria, spotting someone sitting by himself at an otherwise-empty table. _Perfect._

"I don't care who you are, but I'm sitting over here!" Lovino slammed his tray down on the table, far more forcefully than he had intended to, but he was still seething over that lecture (and the detention). He sat down and started trying to open the fork so he could begin eating his lunch, but the plasticwrap wasn't cooperating. _No change there._

"… Ah. Hello."

Lovino let out a muffled, "Hi" in between trying to bite the plastic wrap off of his utensils. _Damn it! Give me the stupid thing!_

"…Do you need help with that?" The quiet male spoke up, watching him with a strange look on his face.

"I refuse to lose to this thing!" Lovino snapped and gave another yank with his teeth, finally feeling the plastic tear. "About damn time!" He muttered under his breath and started stabbing his food with the fork. _That was way too much work for one of their cheap salads._

"… Why are you sitting over here?"

"Because the idiots at my usual table are annoying as hell." Lovino lied, stuffing his mouth with salad so it wouldn't be _as_ obvious. _I just didn't feel like listening to their stupid peppy talk. And with my luck, Feliciano would have heard by now that I was in the office during last class._ "Make this less awkward for me, would you? What's your name again?" He lifted his head to stare at the male sitting across from him.

"… Arthur."

He shrugged and continued eating, "Lovino. Nice to meet you and all that crap."

Ah. Likewise." Arthur went back to writing in his notebook.

 _I wonder what he's writing down._ Lovino tried to read the notes upside down, but couldn't make out the words. _It looks like he has two entirely different writing styles. What the crap. Who even writes that neatly?_ Lovino shook his head and took a gulp of his milk, sighing in relief. "Now _this_ is how a lunch should be spent. In a nice and quiet atmosphere. The idiots over there didn't know when to shut up."

Lovino quickly chomped down the rest of his salad, barely noticing that Arthur hadn't responded at all. _You'd think for all the work they make us put in to open the damn utensils, they could give us a bit more food._ He raised his head again and stared at Arthur's tray blankly, "Aren't you eating your lunch?"

"… not hungry. You're welcome to it if you want it. I just wanted the drink." Arthur closed his notebook and pushed the tray halfway across the table towards Lovino.

Lovino stared at the male in disbelief, "Seriously? I'm not going to pass up free food." He reached over the rest of the way and nabbed the bread off of the male's tray. _Hey, food is food. Even cafeteria food is at least_ _ **something**_ _._ "So what were you writing anyway?" Lovino asked, figuring the male would tell him if it was personal or not.

"Just notes for class." Arthur answered, "I had to borrow someone else's notebook, and I noticed he was missing some parts, so I'm just copying from one to the other."

 _Oh. So that's why it looked like two different styles of writing._ Lovino raised an eyebrow, wondering why he had even bothered worrying about the notes he had missed. _I guess he's more worried about his grades than I am._

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* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, leaving Lovino to sit in the detention room, with only Alfred to keep him company. "… You'd think there'd be a teacher in here or something monitoring us."

"Yeah…" Alfred glanced around the empty room, "We could be doing just about anything in here. At least we don't have that other guy in here though!"

"Then we'd definitely need a teacher in here. We'd all be fighting again." Lovino scowled, wondering if the other student had been suspended, or if he was just sitting in a separate classroom by himself.

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me by the way!" Alfred grinned at Lovino, "That was super awesome of you to do!"

Lovino shrugged it off, glancing at the classroom materials that had been left on the countertop at the back of the room, "I have a brother, too. I certainly wouldn't care to hear that being said to _my_ face. I don't give a crap what it was about, it was rude."

Alfred traced small circles onto the top of his desk with one finger, looking like he was sulking about something.

 _Nor do I need a backstory, so please for the love of my sanity, do not give me a backstory._ Lovino buried his face in his hands. _Please please please please._

"I don't know… maybe it was my fault."

 _Ugh._ Lovino shot a glare upwards towards the ceiling. _You couldn't hear me out this one time?_

"He's my twin… shouldn't I have noticed something was wrong?"

"Not necessarily. Not everybody is transparent with showing emotions." Lovino rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to smack the guy upside the head.

"Hnn…" Alfred laid his head down on the desk and stared out the window.

 _Good. Silence. Leave it that way._ Lovino let out a silent sigh of relief and sunk lower in his chair, hoping the conversation was over.

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* * *

Slight overlap, but I kept the conversation short.


	2. Playing Detective

Lovino sat in his first class, trying to pay attention (for once). The long lecture he'd gotten from his dad about the detention left an unspoken threat of being grounded if the behavior kept up. _I don't get it. Feliciano can get away with just about anything and yet I get detention for sticking up for someone and I get the lecture?_ Lovino glared at the board. How the hell did that make any sense? Feliciano came home after _curfew_ last night, and he barely got a second glance! He'd gotten a few words spoken to him, sure, but it wasn't anything like the lecture Lovino had gotten!

 _And that guy deserved the hit upside the head!_ Lovino looked down at his notes. So now what should he do? _I don't see why it's different rules for me and Feliciano… why the heck can he get away with crap that I can't? Talk about making yourself out to be a hypocrite!_ The Italian turned his gaze out the window, silently wishing he could be anywhere but where he was at. Maybe if he was somewhere else, things would be better. He could have friends in this imaginary place, he wouldn't have to deal with people treating Feliciano nicer than him, and maybe they'd even have a school there he could go to. _Hopefully with different subjects. The ones here are boring as hell._

Even the teacher seemed to be ignoring him today. Feliciano hadn't said so much as a word to Lovino that morning, presumably because he was sulking over Lovino not sitting with him at lunch the previous day. _When even the teachers turn a blind eye… what happens? If no one is willing to listen or pay attention… who can say what would happen?_ Lovino looked back up at the board. _How… boring._

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* * *

After a brief stint in the hallway, involving the lights going out for some damned reason, Lovino found himself back in the principal's office, with Alfred once again. "Man, we gotta do something about this pattern. Seriously."

"You're telling me!" Alfred exclaimed, "Man, my parents are going to lecture the hell out of me again!"

 _Don't remind me._ Lovino rolled his eyes, waiting for the door to the principal's office to open. "I wonder what's taking him so long. We're missing our third class now."

"Not about to cry over that." Alfred grumbled, "Another lame class with a teacher who is repeating the same things that every other teacher has."

"Hm?"

Lovino glanced over at the main office door when it opened. _Who the hell is that?_ An older male walked in, and if he had to guess, Lovino would probably assume the male was only a few years older than his parents. "New guy?" He hissed to Alfred.

"Dunno." Alfred watched the adult with interest.

The male leaned on the secretary's desk, which had remained vacant since Lovino and Alfred had gotten down there. He glanced around now and then before looking at the two sitting on the chairs, "Has anyone been here?"

"Not since we got down here." Lovino shrugged, "We've only been sitting here about thirty minutes though." He kicked his legs back and forth underneath his chair.

"…That's… normal?" The male raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"Yeah." Alfred tilted his head, "Sometimes he's on the phone or talking with someone else. Everyone knows if you get sent down here, you're gonna be down here for a while."

"Makes me wonder why the teachers don't just send you at the end of class." Lovino commented dryly, "If they know you're going to be missing the rest of the class… I mean, that's just basically saying that even the teachers don't give a damn."

"Really." The male shook his head in disbelief, "It's no wonder this place had such a low score." He glanced around the office again, "What about guidance counselors? How are they?"

Alfred blinked a few times before looking at Lovino, "Huh? Do we have guidance counselors here?"

"News to me." Lovino stared blankly at the strange adult, "I've never gone looking for one, so I didn't even realize we had one."

The adult looked back at them again, "Didn't you get a planner or something at the beginning of the year? Anything listing staff?"

"Just our teachers." Alfred frowned, "I mean, something like that would make sense, but… I haven't seen or heard of anything like that… even from the upper classmen."

"Wonderful. Is there a student council at least?" The male looked at them, but looked like he had lost hope of getting a positive answer.

"Oh sure, we have that." Lovino waved a hand in the air, "I don't know if it's different for every class year, but we got a whole two people on ours!"

"… two." The man repeated.

"Yeah. Arthur and that other guy, Roderich." Alfred made a face, "Oh… if I'd known it was going to take this long, I would have gone down to the nurse's office to see if Arthur was alright."

"Man, he seemed to snap at you. I wouldn't." Lovino leaned away from Alfred, gaping at the blonde in disbelief.

Alfred puffed out his cheeks and gave an indignant look to Lovino, "He's a nice guy! He's just had a few rough spots that's all!"

"I'll take your word for it, because yesterday was the first day I've spoken to him." Lovino shook his head, "And he doesn't seem friendly. I mean, he didn't smile once. Not once."

"Really?" Alfred tilted his head, "He used to smile all the time."

"Well he doesn't now." Lovino commented flatly.

"I'd just go back to whatever class you have now." The male commented, breaking up the conversation, "It doesn't appear that anyone is going to be coming anytime soon."

"… is that okay though?" Alfred hesitated, "I don't wanna get into any more trouble!"

"Don't worry about it." The male waved them off, "It'll be fine."

Lovino shrugged and headed out the office door, "I wonder who that guy was…"

"We should have asked." Alfred made a face, "That way we had his name for later when we're in trouble for leaving the office."

"Ugh." Lovino hung his head, "Man. So wait, you and Arthur were friends or something?" He glanced back at Alfred and was surprised to see the tall blonde avoiding his gaze. _… Or something._

"Yeah, we were. All through elementary school, Arthur was my best friend. I mean, I still call him that now, but I doubt he does. We haven't spoken to each other in a while. Not unless we have to anyway." Alfred frowned, "I don't know. Something changed, and he just started avoiding me for some reason."

"A walking mystery…" Lovino whispered.

"Man, if you even think of bothering Arthur about something he doesn't wanna talk about, I will knock you out." Alfred scowled at Lovino.

"You're awfully protective of a guy who doesn't talk to you!" Lovino snapped at him, "Geez!"

"I told you, he's my best friend." Alfred said flatly.

 _What the hell kind of best friend is this?_ Lovino headed down a separate hallway and glanced back over his shoulder at Alfred's retreating back. _Man, they must have been close friends or something._

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* * *

 **Fourth Bell**

Lovino munched on his sandwich, watching Arthur intently. The blonde was writing something in his notebook, not paying Lovino any attention. _Still… if you have a friend you're that close to, what would make you avoid him all of a sudden?_ Lovino hesitated, "So… do you have a crush on him or something?"

"… what?" Arthur lifted his head to stare at Lovino in confusion.

"… Alfred." Lovino said flatly. "You know, tall blonde guy." He held his hand up in the air beside him, despite it not reaching anywhere close to Alfred's height (at least not while he was sitting).

"Wh-why do people keep asking me that today? You're the second person now! No, I do not have a crush on him! He's a bloody idiot!"

 _Ouch._ Lovino shrugged and kept eating, "Dunno." He said between mouthfuls, "He seemed to think pretty highly of you. He calls you his best friend, so I was just curious." Lovino had a sneaking suspicion if there hadn't been so many witnesses, he probably would have gotten hit over that statement.

"Like I said…" Arthur hissed, "He's an _idiot_."

 _Double ouch. Alfred, you are cruising for a bruising._ Lovino shook his head, "Huh… maybe it's sentimentality that he still calls you that then."

"Undoubtedly." Arthur went back to writing in his notebook, "Sentimentality, and the mind of a child."

 _And triple ouch._ Lovino winced, feeling rather sorry for Alfred. "I wouldn't say he has the mind of a child. He seems nice enough. Not so sure about all his hero talk though."

"Is he still spouting that nonsense?" Arthur asked, not looking up from what he was writing.

"Yeah. Shoulda heard him yesterday." Lovino watched Arthur carefully over the top of his drink bottle, "Some guy didn't believe he was a hero and he chucked a chair at him."

"He did what?" Arthur dropped the pencil in disbelief, "He did not."

"Sure he did. We both had detention for it, too." Lovino shrugged.

"You had detention for it?" Arthur asked, picking up his pencil again, "How did you get involved in it?"

"I threw a textbook at him." Lovino answered calmly, taking a sip of his soda, "The guy deserved it. He made some stupid comment towards him that was just plain rude, hero talk or no hero talk."

Arthur frowned and glanced at Lovino with a curious expression.

"What was it again?" Lovino tilted his head, "Something about 'what kind of hero can't save his own brother' I think?" He watched Arthur's face turn considerably paler. _Ah. That's something he knows about, too!_

Arthur went back to scribbling in his notebook, muttering a reply that Lovino had to strain to hear, "That wasn't his fault."

"Didn't say it was." Lovino commented.

"A hero can't save everyone. Especially not someone who never says they need help. Hero he may be, but he's not a mind reader." Arthur said flatly.

 _That's a rather eloquent way of putting it. …Huh?_ Lovino blinked, processing what Arthur had just said, "… wait. I'm confused now. Are you guys friends or what?"

"What?" Arthur looked back up at Lovino, looking rather exasperated, "Now what are you talking about?"

Lovino tapped his unused fork on the empty tray in front of him, "You know… you're the first person, besides himself, that I've heard call Alfred a hero."

Arthur's face flushed red and he instantly went back to writing in his notebook.

 _This is way more interesting than class could ever be._ Lovino grinned to himself. "Not so much of a child then, is he?" He continued tapping his fork on the tray, giving an innocent smile to Arthur when the blonde glared at him.

"Drop it." Arthur snapped.

"Yes, sir~" Lovino grinned, "I won't bother you from your note-taking anymore."

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* * *

 **Fifth Bell**

So maybe he could devote some time to figuring out the mystery that was Arthur Kirkland. Lovino tapped his pencil on top of his empty notebook page. _Let's see… we have…_

 **-Refers to Alfred as a hero**

 **-Is also of the belief that whatever happened to Alfred's brother wasn't his fault.**

 **-Says they're not friends**

 **-Doesn't seem to want to talk about it.**

Lovino looked at the small list. _But what kind of person calls the other person a child, then agrees with the person for the exact same thing that they just called them a child for? I mean… Alfred had to get that idea of being a hero from somewhere right? He can't just love superhero crap that much._ Lovino glanced around the room, trying to find some inspiration for his thoughts. _I mean, if Alfred and Arthur can become friends again, at least that'd be_ _ **someone's**_ _life working out for them… since obviously mine hit the dumpster._ Lovino scowled at the memory of his brother and shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts away.

 _Alfred said they were friends through elementary school right? So something would have had to happen between fifth and sixth grade for Arthur to suddenly avoid him._ Lovino nodded to himself and added the note to his paper. _Arthur doesn't seem to have anyone he's close to, except for maybe that gargoyle blonde guy and Roderich… maybe I can ask one of them._ He closed his notebook and placed the pencil on top of it. He could probably catch Ludwig after school before the blonde left. _Being a detective is kind of fun._ Lovino grinned to himself. Way more fun than paying attention in class!


	3. A Heavy Weight Being Carried

Sorry, this one got pushed off for a couple days while I did some irl things.

* * *

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Lovino pushed himself through the crowd gathered at the entrance to the auditorium and managed to squeeze his way out of the group to escape to the front of the room. "I guess most people want to sit in the back. Works better for me." He took a seat on the right side of the room in the front row. Not for the reason of paying attention, more for the reason that speakers generally looked toward the _back_ of the room, rather than the front.

"It'll be much easier to fall asleep up here." Lovino leaned on the armrest and waited for other students to file in, expecting the majority to take seats behind him. He could see someone standing off the side of the stage, looking like they were talking to someone else. _That must be our principal then._ _I wonder if he's going to be any different than the last one…_

"Dude!"

"Huh?" Lovino looked up as Alfred sat down next to him, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about, man? I'm here for the assembly!" Alfred laughed.

"No, I meant what are you doing _here_?" Lovino pointed to the seat that Alfred was in, "Don't you have your normal group of people to sit with?"

"They're being way too loud back there!" Alfred pouted, "And you were up here by yourself!"

 _He's a fine one to talk about people being too loud._ Lovino made a face but turned back to the stage. _Whatever. He can sit wherever he wants._

"…Hey." Alfred elbowed Lovino, "Isn't that the guy we talked to in the office last week?"

"… Oh. He's our new principal huh?" Lovino watched the male as he tapped on the microphone a few times, "Great. Nothing like first impressions."

Alfred burst out laughing, "At least he'll know what to expect from us! A bad true impression is better than a false good impression!"

"Who the hell told you that?" Lovino gaped at Alfred in disbelief.

"… Uh… which movie was it again?" Alfred tilted his head, trying to remember.

"…" Lovino looked back up at the stage. _Should have known it was a movie._

The male tapped on the microphone once more as the lights began to dim, "Attention. May I have everyone's attention please?"

"Sure, man. Good luck with that." Lovino made a face, wishing he'd chosen the second row so he could put his legs up on something. _Too bad they don't make these seats more comfortable._

"… He doesn't know our track record of assemblies…" Alfred whispered.

"He doesn't even know what he got himself into." Lovino scoffed.

"As some of you may have heard, the person you knew as your principal, I sincerely doubt any of you knew his name even, is no longer working here at this school building. The position will be taken over by myself, but hopefully I don't have to see any of you down there on a regular basis. … Though looking at some of the records of the people in this room, I don't think that hope is going to last too long."

Lovino glanced at Alfred doubtfully, but the blonde hastily shook his head, "Dude, not me! I don't have that long of a record at the office!"

"Well it ain't me." Lovino snapped, "Who the hell goes down to the office that much?"

The principal continued, "I know what you're thinking: that the middle of the school year is entirely too late to be going over any rules or regulations, and that many of you have already learned them by now, whether by being told or finding out the hard way…"

"Hard way." Lovino whispered.

"Common sense and hard way." Alfred snickered.

 _You're a fine one to talk about common sense, too._ Lovino shot him a glare.

"But I don't have the intentions of going over any of that. Because I sincerely doubt any of you would be listening to it."

Lovino let out a short laugh while Alfred looked slightly offended, "Oh no, Alfred, he _knows_ our track record of assemblies."

"This school, as I have been informed, has an excellent grade average. One of the highest averages in the region actually. But that isn't the issue at this school. It's not the reason why the faculty will be seeing changes and transfers over the next couple months or even years. It's the attitudes of the students at this school that's the problem."

Alfred leaned over closer to Lovino, "How do they test attitudes?" He whispered.

"… Uhhh…" Lovino hesitated, "Didn't we take something about a month after school started? There was that weird aptitude test that people were complaining about?"

"A couple months ago, the freshman year was given an emotional aptitude test. This test was run in every school across the region. It was a trial test only given to the first-year students in high school. Some of you may remember it… and probably now that you were reminded of it, you may have now realized you never got the results of it."

"Oh, is he going to tell us?" Lovino raised his eyebrows as the principal looked down at the paper he was holding. _How much of this speech is written on that thing?_

The principal then held up the paper, "In a short answer of how all of you did: bad. There are approximately three hundred students in your grade, one of the largest groups of students to occupy a single grade at this high school. Over twenty-five percent of you… failed."

"Ouch." Alfred whispered.

"How do you _fail_ an emotional aptitude test?" Lovino gaped at the principal.

"Of that percentage of students, many of them had almost the same answers. Which is very… sad. It shows a disconnection between school life and home life… a lack of guidance and direction… and a lack of understanding and knowledge of basic subjects."

"What basic subjects?" Alfred glanced at Lovino in confusion.

"Why are you even asking me? I have no idea." Lovino slumped down in his seat, "This is making no sense."

"A portion of the school board thought maybe the blame was on the teachers. Maybe they just weren't focusing on the students, or trying to relate their syllabus to the real world. Another portion of the school board thought that the blame was on parents, for not teaching their children about the world and what to expect from it."

"… They're working, dude." Alfred muttered.

Lovino stared at the principal in disbelief, "What the hell kind of speech is this?"

"Yet another group of school board members put the blame on guidance counselors. For not being there when the students needed to talk to someone. As I heard from two students just last week, perhaps they are partially right. I don't think most of you even knew there _was_ a guidance office."

"Hey, he mentioned us!" Alfred grinned.

"I'm ecstatic." Lovino sunk lower in his seat.

"But the remaining few… those who can honestly say they, at one time, were in the same position as those students… didn't put the blame on anyone. It wasn't the teachers' fault, because they're not mind readers. They don't know what every student is going through. It's not the parents' fault, because not every child will go to their parent if something is wrong. And it's not the guidance counselor's fault if no student comes to them. You are products of your environment. Some of you adapt and change, some of you are stuck because you don't know what to do or where to go, and some of you may not even care."

"… Double ouch." Alfred whispered.

"Seriously, what a depressing way to start a day." Lovino muttered.

"That aptitude test showed a lack of direction. Confusion because some students didn't know who to talk to about what they were feeling, embarrassment because they were afraid that if they _did_ talk to someone, their fears would be ignored or put-down. If someone cannot talk to their friends, their parents, their teacher, or their guidance counselor? Where are they supposed to turn?"

 _… This is sounding familiar. I feel like I heard something similar before…_ Lovino tilted his head, frowning slightly. _Where have I heard this?_

"To the people who put the blame on guidance counselors, how can you blame someone who wasn't at fault? They were doing their jobs, but if a student doesn't feel safe enough to confide in them, it's not the counselor's fault. If you think it's the parent's fault, I ask you, what is your home life like? Some students' parents may not be home on a daily basis. They may work early or late, and they may only each other a few times a week. When would they have the time to talk?"

"Preaching to the choir, dude." Alfred grumbled, "Parents who have kids should be allowed to work shorter hours."

"Isn't that a personal choice the parent makes though?" Lovino made a face.

"To those blaming the teachers… they don't know everything. And it's also not their job. Their job is to educate a student. To give them knowledge that they can put to use in the real world… but not every teacher's message gets through to the student. Teachers have different styles of teaching, not all of you may agree with every single one of them."

"The teachers at this school must have subscribed to the powerpoint way of teaching." Lovino commented, staring off towards a corner of the stage in boredom.

"I wish they'd find some other way of teaching it." Alfred groaned, "It's _boring_."

"Occasionally there's tempers that clash, personalities that clash… and students that wind up down in the office day after day after day. There are some students in this room with a record of being down in the office that's longer than some seniors have. And _that_ is sad."

"Boy I'll say. We haven't even been in this school a year!" Lovino exclaimed, "What the hell?!"

"Oh, now I know he's not referring to me for sure." Alfred let out a sigh of relief, "Oh good."

The principal paused and looked around the auditorium, "What's more sad is… that now after all that, I ask of you all, who was listening?"

"… We were." Lovino blinked.

"Hm?" Alfred glanced around the room, "Uh… I think we might have been the only ones."

Lovino turned around and found mostly guilty expressions on the faces of the students behind them, "What the hell? What's wrong with you people?!"

The principal shook his head and gave a sad smile, "I say this to prove a point. If you cannot listen to someone who has authority over you, how do you hope to listen to those around you? I'm willing to bet that there is not one person in here who can tell me what I said five minutes into what I was saying. If you can't spend more than five minutes listening to someone on a stage, how can you spend two minutes listening to someone in the hallway?"

"He'd lose that bet." Lovino muttered, "But I'm not about to admit I was listening."

"Nope." Alfred agreed hastily, "Not standing up."

"Wait." Lovino blinked, "Did he just say hallway?"

The principal looked around once more and gestured his arms out to the audience in front of him, "You're all teenagers. You all have your groups of friends, some smaller or bigger than others… but tell me, how many people in here, in the last week, have actually spoken to someone new? You spoke to someone you've never spoken to before? Show of hands?"

Alfred glanced at Lovino and raised his hand with a huge grin on his face.

Lovino scowled and put up his hand, glaring at Alfred as he did so, "Only because of that stupid idiot last week!"

The principal gazed around the room, looking down at Alfred and Lovino for a moment, "That's actually more than I was expecting." The principal spoke, "Good for you all who raised your hands. The rest of you are either too scared to raise your hands for whatever reason, or you just believe in sticking with your normal group of friends. Either one is fine, it doesn't much matter. But while you are talking to your friends in the hallway, in the classroom, or even on the way home… how many of you notice the people around you? The ones _not_ in your circle?"

"…did he just stare at us?" Alfred whispered, leaving his hand up.

"He probably recognized us." Lovino, who'd been lowering his hand when the principal started talking again, muttered and put his hand up once more.

"Just think of your first class for instance. I know for a fact, that there are students in this school who have divorced or single parents, how many of you know someone in this auditorium now who does not have both parents to go home to after school?"

Alfred whistled quietly and left his hand in the air, "Dude, I'm going to lose feeling in my hand at this rate."

Lovino grinned and put his arm back down, "Sucks to be you!"

"Those of you with your hands raised, how many of you have single parents yourselves?"

Alfred put his hand back down with a sigh of relief, "Oh good." He waved his hand back and forth.

" _All_ students with single parents, raise your hands."

Lovino glanced over his shoulder as a number of hands went up, "Whoa! I didn't realize there were this many people!"

"Dude… what the heck?" Alfred looked around the room, startled.

The principal shook his head and gestured to the audience once more, "Again, proving my point. Some people, that did not raise their hands when I asked who knew someone with single parents, are even sitting next to those with their hands up. This is what I meant. You have grown up in an environment that teaches you to stay inside your comfort zone. You grow up talking to the same people and never look beyond that. People of habit."

 _Well I knew the habit part._ Lovino thought back his notebook that he'd been keeping since the week before and grinned.

"Are we really that obvious?" Alfred asked in confusion.

"On a more serious note, how many students in here know someone who tried to take their life?" The principal asked gravely.

Lovino gave a heavy sigh and put his hand back up, "Man. These questions are just getting more depressing as it goes on."

"Ugh. Not a subject I want to hear." Alfred sunk in his seat but raised his hand anyway.

"Then don't answer. You don't have to answer something you're not comfortable with." Lovino huffed, "He's not forcing you."

The principal hesitated before leaning into the microphone, "Now I can understand if you don't want to answer this, but how many people in here have actually tried?"

Alfred put his hand back down, letting out another sigh of relief. He glanced to his right and blinked at the hand that Lovino still held in the air, "Huh?"

"What?" Lovino glared at him.

"Dude… why the heck…" Alfred started.

"'Not everyone knows everything about everyone. Don't attempt to understand someone else's reasoning. You will fail. You can listen their words, but you will never hear their thoughts.'" Lovino said flatly.

"… Who said that?" Alfred tilted his head.

"My grandpa." Lovino answered flatly.

The principal shook his head, "Now _that_ is sad. I can't even imagine how many more there are who just don't want to raise their hands. Nor do I want to know how many succeeded."

"… Does your grandpa have a degree in psychology or something?" Alfred asked in surprise as Lovino put his hand back down.

"I don't know what his degree is in." Lovino shrugged, "I know he's a guidance counselor. Don't ask me where though, because I haven't talked to him in a couple months. And even longer before that."

"Imagine for one minute, if all those students who just had their raised were not here. If everyone in this room who had tried had succeeded, how much smaller your class year would be."

Alfred sunk lower in his seat, suddenly looking even more uncomfortable than he had before.

"Okay hey, I think if everyone who had their hands up weren't here, you could add another few onto the count!" Lovino complained, "That's a rude thing to say!"

"Out of… curiosity. How many students in here… have been in the hospital for a serious affliction, self-caused or otherwise?"

Lovino put his hand back up, "Completely unrelated. Don't give me that look."

"You didn't go to the hospital?" Alfred blinked.

"No. Because no one at home even knew about it." Lovino shrugged, "I just said I wasn't feeling well."

"What?! What kind of parents don't notice?!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down before I knock you out." Lovino scowled.

The principal let out an audible sigh, "I'm probably going to regret asking, but of those of you who do _not_ have your hands raised, take a look around you, and raise your hand if you knew about at least _one_ of these people."

Alfred sulked and sat back in his seat, but raised his hand anyway. "I know Mattie had his hand up."

Lovino waved his hand around, "All this up and down really hurts the muscles."

"A few people… so about half the room has their hands raised right now… your class year could have easily been half the size it is now. And none of you… would have noticed."

Alfred put his hand back down in a hurry and whimpered, "Can he stop saying that."

"I can pretty much guarantee, that out of everyone that does not have their hand raised, you might have _wondered_ for about five minutes, but then the thought would have left your mind. Either with the assumption that they moved or transferred, but never would this thought have occurred to you. …Of the students who had their hands raised… how many of you can _honestly_ say that you are still here, because of the actions of someone else?"

Lovino whistled quietly and glanced around the room out of curiosity to see who had their hands up, "Wow. That lowered quite a few hands."

"Those of you who have your hands up, more than I expected again honestly, how many of you are here because of the actions of someone else, from the most recent time you were hospitalized?"

Alfred watched as every hand went back down, "Uh…"

"That's depressing." Lovino commented dryly.

The principal gave a waving motion of his arms to the room once more, "This is not only disappointing… it's _sad_. Because that means of all of you who had your hands up, you did not have a friend to help you, and you didn't even have a family member."

Alfred looked over at Lovino, "…"

"What?" Lovino glared at the blonde.

"So I ask again, who would have noticed?" The principal asked, "Who can honestly stand up and tell me, you would have noticed that something was wrong?"

Lovino made a face as Alfred sunk lower in his seat, "Alright. You know what… this is stupid." He stood up, getting a shocked look from Alfred and the principal, much to his amusement.

"Uh, dude…" Alfred started as the principal came wandering over, "I don't think that was a good idea."

"Oh hello." The principal knelt down at the side of stage so he could offer the microphone to Lovino, "And why would you have noticed?"

 _I notice his surprise has vanished._ Lovino made a face, but just spoke into the microphone rather than take it, "Because we're people of habit. I honestly could not tell you their names, but I could tell you their absence would be obvious. I pass the same people every day to classes. I know who to expect in the hallway while I'm walking, because they always stand at the same spot, with the same people, every day."

"Seriously…?" Alfred whispered behind him, "We're _that_ predictable?"

"You look like him." The principal commented, making sure to hold the microphone away from both of them, "I suppose it's not that much of a shock that you even sound like him."

"Huh?" Lovino stared at the principal in confusion.

"Roma's your grandfather, right?" The principal smiled, "He's a friend of mine."

"That's why parts of this crap sounded familiar." Lovino muttered as the principal stood up to return to the center of the stage.

"He knows your grandpa?" Alfred looked at Lovino in surprise as the male sat down, "Wow!"

"Yeah, really. Which means he expected me to answer as soon as he saw me." Lovino scowled, "People of _habit_."

"Ohhh…" Alfred whispered.

"Thank you." The principal nodded turned and bowed his head slightly to Lovino, "So one student… one person out of this entire room, would have noticed. That is… sad." He turned back to the room as he reached the center of the stage, "So now I ask you… not to remember what I said at the beginning of this… nor to remember what I said in the middle. But if you take nothing else from this room… remember what I am telling you now."

"This sounds like one of his lectures actually." Lovino made a face, "Like one of the lectures he gives dad on rare occasion."

"It is not possible for you to know every single person who is in this room, it's not. I'm not asking you to talk to every person in this room. I'm asking you… to pay attention. Pay attention to the people around you, no matter who they are. You may see someone on the way to your class, it may be someone you never talked to before… but remember, that may be the _only_ chance you have to talk to that person. Everyone who had their hands raised, who tried to end their lives early, could easily try again. Someone who has never tried could make an attempt… and they could succeed. And you will _never_ get that chance back."

"I wonder if your grandpa gave him advice on what to say." Alfred tilted his head.

"Nah. Grandpa doesn't give advice. He said advice is what people give when they expect someone to listen." Lovino scoffed, "Grandpa doesn't expect the person with him to be listening to what he's saying."

"… Uh… isn't that kind of sad?" Alfred asked.

"Grandpa's a sad person." Lovino scowled.

"I tell you this… from a point of view that nearly lost that chance." The principal continued, "He was someone I went to college with… someone I didn't really get along with. He seemed… entirely too carefree to be a serious student."

"Oh great." Lovino sunk in his seat, "Here we go."

"Huh?" Alfred looked between Lovino and the principal, "Dude… I think he just looked this way."

"Yeah, because he knows _I_ know what he's about to say." Lovino scowled, "This is crap. Why do I have to listen to this?"

"He was never one that people thought would go places. He was the college student who enjoyed parties. For whatever reason that he had, I never bothered trying to figure it out. But I saw that person… become a father. He had a child with someone who also enjoyed partying. And he dropped everything for that child. He left college to be a father."

Lovino nodded to himself while Alfred stared at the principal in disbelief. _Dad should be here listening to this. Oh._ He took out his cell phone and opened up the camera, "Perfect opportunity."

"Why are you videotaping this?" Alfred asked blankly.

"Because someone else needs to hear this." Lovino said flatly.

"But… the woman he married did not drop everything. She stayed in college, and was the same person she always was. She stayed out late, she went to parties." The principal shook his head, "He might as well have been a single parent. But he raised his child… his son, even though he was by himself. Even though everyone he used to know, with the exception of two or three of his closest friends, kept asking him why. His answer was always the same… that there was no person alive that could ever take the place of his child."

"… That's so amazing…" Alfred whispered in awe.

 _People are going to get a really strange impression of you, grandpa._ Lovino thought, keeping the camera aimed at the principal. Even if the image was going to be blurry, at least the words would come out clear.

"And despite everything she put him through… he still loved her. Despite the fact that she was never there to help him raise their son, she was never there around holidays, or birthdays… or any time… he still loved her. He loved her… right up until about two months ago."

"… Didn't you say a couple months since the last time you talked to him?" Alfred asked.

"Uhh…" Lovino bit his lip, "Maybe I should shut this off now."

"When she came to him with a child that wasn't his."

"Oh, no. Dad knows this part. I'm good." Lovino sighed in relief.

"Whaaaaat?" Alfred gaped at Lovino.

The principal paused, looking offstage for a moment before continuing, "And that was when he tried. He was in the hospital for… well over a month. … And then his son showed up. His son who lived… a good two or three hours away… showed up at the hospital."

"Yeah… I might hold off on showing this video." Lovino's face reddened.

"Huh? Why? If your dad was there…?" Alfred tilted his head.

"And he changed his mind. Just from seeing his son again. It's only thanks to his son, that I was able to reconnect with him. I found out he had completed his college degree after his son had moved away from home. He's… definitely more serious than when I had known him in college. I wouldn't say he's completely lost that carefree spirit of his… but I wouldn't say he's the same person either. …But I got that chance to talk to him again. Which is a chance that many people don't get."

Alfred watched as Lovino slowly sank in his seat, "Uh… Lovino?"

"Shut up." Lovino whispered.

"So keep that in mind… when you're going to your next class after this. That second chances are a rare opportunity, and that they are _never_ guaranteed."

"… That _was_ your dad at the hospital right?" Alfred asked in confusion.

"… no." Lovino said flatly. "I was the only one home when the doctor called. I didn't want to try and tell dad since he was really busy at work, so I took a train and went by myself."

"…" Alfred stared at Lovino in disbelief.

"Grandpa didn't want dad to find out." Lovino made a face, "So I told him I wouldn't say anything until he wanted me to. That's how it's always been. Grandpa doesn't want dad to worry about him, so… he hasn't said anything."

"That's so sad though…" Alfred whispered, "I mean, just from hearing this guy, it's obvious he cares about your dad!"

"Yeah, and that's why he doesn't want dad to know." Lovino said flatly, "I know this guy wasn't at the hospital, so grandpa must have told him that it was dad who went to see him."

"Keeping the lie going." Alfred cheered in a quiet voice.

"… One of these days… I hope all those lies don't come back to haunt him." Lovino scowled, "Because he's told a _lot_."

"What?" Alfred gaped at him, "What are you, a confidant?"

"I might as well be. I kept finding out by accident when I was younger, and now it's just…" Lovino hesitated, "…habit."

Alfred stared at Lovino in shock, "… Man, some habits need to be broken."

"It's not like he has anyone else who will listen!" Lovino snapped.

.

.

* * *

Background on Roma was necessary for understanding Lovino's current mindframe in later chapters. C:


End file.
